Sergei Ivanov, the head of the presidential administration, has been speaking to Russian state television. He said: “I want to say the result of the vote was a unanimous approval of the Russian president’s request. This is specifically about Syria. I want to underline that this is not about any kind of political objective or ambitions that we have been accused of by our western partners. It is only about international interests of Russian Federation.”

Thus, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asked Russia for military aid.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has requested the Federation Council upper house of parliament to authorise the use of a Russian Armed Forces’ contingent outside the country based on the generally recognized international law norms and principles.

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Wednesday at the upper house’s plenary session that the Federation Council (FC) is considering the issue of using Russian Armed Forces outside of Russia.

"We will now consider the second issue of using the Russian Armed Forces outside of Russia," Matviyenko said.

Among those who are expected to report on the issue are Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergey Ivanov, Chairman of the FC Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Ozerov and First Deputy Chairman of International Affairs Committee Vladimir Dzhabarov.

The issue came out when news regarding Russia’s military aid to Syria and its military existence in the country increased. Russian and the U.S. presidents have discussed this issue at the UN General Assembly.

According to the Russian Constitution, the Federation Council can consider the possibility of using the Russian Armed Forces outside Russia. The upper house of the Russian parliament used this rights last time on 1 March 2014, when it allowed the Russian president to use the Armed Forces in Ukraine until the situation there stabilizes.

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